We've highlighted apps from Simple Mobile Tools before as great, open-source, data-light alternatives to the basic tools Google provides for your Android phone. Now you can notch another one into that belt as the developer has just come out with a Simple Dialer app. And it's free.

The Google Phone app has been a constantly-evolving piece of software that many users prefer over third-party dialers. Unfortunately, Google has always restricted the app's use to Pixel, Android One, and other stock-ish Android phones, something that has led to multiple modded APKs and workarounds for other types of phones. Thankfully, the Phone app is now available on the Play Store for a bevy of non-Google-branded devices.

Google has been tweaking its popular apps over the past few months to align them with the refreshed Material guidelines. After showing signs of a refresh not too long ago, Google’s dialer and messaging apps are now picking up the new outlined icons with their latest beta releases. These rather subtle changes merely replace the existing filled iconography and do not introduce any new functionality whatsoever.

Google's custom Nexus/Pixel dialer has added a few cool features over the years like local search and video call integration, but the interface hasn't changed in ages. Today, it looks like Google is testing a redesign that moves your tabs to the bottom. This isn't always a surefire way to improve app usability, but I think it works here.

An update to Google's Phone app began rolling out to users earlier today. Besides enabling the seamless video calling feature with Duo, which also works on v14, this update comes with a few additions of its own. The previously discussed Assisted Dialing feature for international travelers has been enabled and is ready to make life a little easier, and users on Android 8.1 will now see the white navigation bar that's been creeping into a few of Google's apps. If you're using a dual-SIM phone, you might also be getting the option to pick your SIM immediately before a call, though this might not be live yet.

If there's one thing that's certain in life, it's that Google is always testing some sort of interesting UI change in one of its apps. Some of them end up on the scrapheap, but some of them end up being integral parts of the experience we all have when using our Android devices. The latest test to be discovered is a floating bubble UI in the Google Phone app.

Last month, it started to look like Duo would add its own calls to your phone's call history. While the app asked users for permission to manage the call history, it didn't actually work yet. As part of the Duo 14 app update, this feature is now operational.

If you think Chrome's rapid updates are annoying, Google's Phone application might send you over the edge. The last 4.0 update came in August, then 5.1 was included with Pixel devices, then another 4.1 update for non-Android 7.0 users, and now we are at 6.0. So what warrants a major version bump? Not much.

Google Phone 5.1 actually added most of the UI changes you might notice (check out our post about it). The first noticeable change here is when receiving a call, the notification now has larger Answer and Decline buttons. This is also on the Phone 4.1 APK, but it is worth mentioning here.

We're still tearing down all the applications from the Pixel system dump, and the included Google Phone 5.1 app is certainly worth talking about. Without further ado, let's dive in!

New call UI

The first major change is the brand new Call UI, which is now a translucent blue shade over your wallpaper. The new interface looks a bit like the iOS dialer, with large buttons and a circular Caller ID icon at the top.

As we reported yesterday, Google recently opened up the Google Dialer app to virtually all phones running Marshmallow. Great! Everyone was happy for a few hours, and then the other shoe dropped. It turns out this was not intentional on Google's part, and the Play Store listing no longer allows installing on non-Nexus phones. What's more, sideloading is blocked in the latest build.